Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas with more than half its population living below WHO's poverty line of less than two dollars per day. The national prevalence of diabetes is currently estimated at 6% by the IDF is increasing.There is very limited access to diabetes care, and people cannot afford what little there is. The situation has been greatly exacerbated by the earthquake in January 2010. Due to the earthquake, many important medical structures have been heavily damaged. Countless homes have been destroyed leaving a huge population homeless. People with chronic conditions have largely been ignored due to the acuteness of the catastrophe. Their situation is greatly deteriorating due to the lack of medical care as well as the living conditions following the earthquake resulting in unbalanced meals, physical and psychological trauma, loss of livelihood, poor hygiene, co-morbidities etc.In addition, both the general population and the health care providers have very little knowledge of how to prevent, treat and manage diabetes and associated complications. The Ministry of Health (MoH) recognises the threat that diabetes is posing, but it does not have the capacity to lead the fight, and no national plan for diabetes has been developed. If nothing is done to provide care to people living with diabetes and other chronic conditions the situation will greatly worsen.The aim of the project is to increase access to basic diabetes care for people living in the areas most severely affected by the earthquake of 2010 in Haiti.
This particular project will focus on providing care to the population of the West Department in a 60 km radius of Port-au-Prince - the epicentre of the earthquake. This population was, and is, most severely affected by the earthquake. The project seeks to increase access to care by firstly developing standardised protocols for diabetes management. A committee consisting of two doctors, two nurses and two diabetes patients will be responsible for developing the protocol. It is designed for doctors and nurses and will contain all relevant information on how to manage diabetes.Secondly, the project will identify 12 sites in the intervention area where diabetes clinics will be established at public hospitals or already-existing clinics. There will be a minimal payment scheme in place for testing and medication to ensure sustainability. One doctor and two nurses from each clinic as well as five medical professionals from FHADIMAC will receive a three-day training course in diabetes care. Because of the devastating effects of the earthquake, people in the remote areas, including many tented refugee camps, have to travel long distances to get to a health clinic.To increase access to prevention and care in these areas, a mobile clinic will be established. A van will be fully equipped to provide education and diabetes care as well as screening for diabetes and complications such as diabetic foot and retinopathy. In addition, the van will help raise awareness about diabetes among the general population. People with severe complications will receive counselling and be referred to the nearest clinic. Three days a week the van will be doing outreach activities in the remote areas. The project has an aim of screening 15,000 people in the area, and they expect to find at least 1,000 people living with diabetes. These patients will be followed by a medical team of the project partner to provide care and reduce complications.
• Protocol and procedure guide on management of diabetes was elaborated and distributed • 12 diabetes clinics established • 40 doctors and 89 nurses trained in diabetes care • 24,629 people screened for diabetes and eye and foot complications• 2877 patient were diagnosed and treated for diabetes• 563,004 people were reached through awareness activities